Thread by @Lionel30i

A thread on Lionel Messi’s departure from FC Barcelona from Guillem Balague’s new biography about Leo.

Everything in this book has been approved by Leo himself and the rest of his family.

For 5 months, Laporta’s statements to the media were positive as he and Messi built up their relationship. Just a few small wrinkles needed to be ironed out before announcing Messi’s contract extension. Suddenly, some doubt and edginess entered the room…

The salary had been resolved in the very first meeting between Jorge Messi and Laporta without any disagreements. Messi’s prime demand remained unanswered though. Putting together a competitive team.

Barca’s directors knew of the club’s financial issues. Still, they still worked to arrange everything for the announcement of Messi’s renewal on August 5th. There was a celebratory dinner already booked for the occasion. The club’s media team was busy making an announcement video

On August 4th, there was a phone call between Jorge Messi and Barca’s sporting vice-president, Rafa Yuste. Jorge was in the US about to fly to Barcelona and wanted to check in to see how everything was going and if there were any updates about squad developments before Leo signed

Leo was on the way to his house in Barcelona. Jorge asked, “everything okay?” Rafa Yuste was strangely ambiguous with his answer. Jorge never asked for any amendments to the contract already agreed. He then called his son to tell him about this strange change in tone.

This prompted Leo to send a message to Laporta who replied with his usual optimism. It seemed as if any doubts were put to bed now.

Shortly after, Rafa Yuste called Jorge Messi again to say, “Laporta said it’s not happening.” Jorge could not comprehend this message. “What do you mean it’s not happening?” he said. Yuste insisted, “Laporta isn’t interested anymore.”

Jorge would not believe this news until he heard it from Laporta himself. Jorge called Laporta immediately and the president’s words betrayed previously unraised doubts that sounded like excuses. Laporta told Jorge, “I’m going to do what I want.”

He asked Laporta if it was because of money which he had been told wasn’t an issue before. “If it can’t be done, what do we do?” asked Jorge. Laporta responded, “I don’t want to do this anymore. It’s over. I’m not risking the club.” Jorge then called for a meeting face to face.

The club created 2 false narratives about the situation:

1. Jorge had already been in discussions with PSG and was tightening a contractual noose around Barcelona’s neck

2. Jorge asked for a higher signing on bonus than previously agreed which caused Laporta to change his mind

Messi was clear he wanted a competitive team. He sometimes asked Laporta when players the president himself had suggested in their meetings would arrive. Leo’s objective was to bring great players to a club of Barca’s stature to let it fulfill its desire of winning many trophies

Leo and his father did not have signing top players as a ‘sine qua non’ (non-absolute) condition for staying. Leo’s only wish was to remain at the club. It was the only mandate Jorge had from his son.

On August 5th, Jorge arrived in Barcelona to meet with Laporta. The president reiterated his words from several hours earlier, “I’m not going to do it.”

Jorge replied, “have you thought it through?”

“I’ve thought it through. I’m not doing it. I don’t want to sink the club.”

Laporta talked about the numbers, possible transfers and the future. Barca hadn’t been able to sign players like Aguero, Depay, Emerson and Eric Garcia. They needed to lower the wages of current players, which so far was a fruitless task

The club was pushing for cost-cutting as the solution instead of investment. They did not consider that Messi’s commercial success meant he could generate more income than his salary through sponsors and sales.

Messi had agreed to a 75% wage cut in the first year of the new contract, and by half over the deal’s full length. This is something no other player had done that summer.

Laporta’s explanations left little room for discussion. Jorge and Laporta agreed that whatever happens, they would avoid aggravating each other. The meeting ended peacefully with the two men hugging. As Guillem writes, “that was how Messi’s beautiful Barca fairy tale concluded.”

According to people close to Laporta he is an impulsive man, but also one with great strength and confidence. These traits were critical to Messi’s contract story.

A year before the election, Laporta wasn’t even sure if he would run. Once he did, his campaign had many doubts and budget holes. His rivals needed two years to get the money to run. Laporta won the election without the money in place, sourcing it after already winning.

The phrase ‘we’ll talk when the time comes’ was a common strategy for Laporta. The other candidates had plans for their first 100 days as president. Laporta worked on the fly as shown by delaying the players’ salary reduction until late summer.

Javier Tebas made Messi staying a possibility with the CVC deal. Tebas had dinner with Laporta on July 14th, shortly after Jorge Messi agreed the new contract with Laporta for his son.

According to Tebas, Laporta was overjoyed with the CVC deal and ordered the process to be sped up in order to renew Messi sooner. Tebas told Laporta he had to abandon the European Super League in return for the CVC deal.

Vice-treasurer, Eduard Romeu, said the CVC deal would mortgage Barca’s income for a long time and that it was a “poisoned gift.”

Some La Liga representatives suspected that Messi’s departure was part a plan between Barcelona and Real Madrid to discredit domestic competition and push for the Super League

With Messi off the club’s books, the wage bill dropped from 110% to 95%. Other stars in the dressing room were also calling for drastic changes, defending the departure of Messi. In typical Laporta fashion, he did a last-minute U-turn that even surprised those close to him.

Barcelona would have chopped 40% of their wage bill by moving on their aging stars while keeping their “cash cow”

The negative repercussions came quickly. Rakuten, the club’s biggest sponsor, abandoned the club. Three international companies were on the verge of signing then refused to without Messi. More than 26,000 members withdrew their memberships.

Jorge Messi, after leaving Laporta’s office, knew what was coming next:

“They’re going to make a fool out of me. I’m going to have to go and knock on the same doors that I’ve just closed.”

Messi refused Manchester City twice. Guardiola’s team was focused on other transfers. Jack Grealish was signed on the same day Barcelona announced Messi would not continue (August 5th)

Leonardo Araújo, PSG’s sporting director, messaged Jorge Messi on WhatsApp asking if Leo’s departure was true. They had already refused PSG so many times that Jorge feared there wouldn’t be time to get a deal done.

But PSG were ready. Leonardo wrote to Jorge a few months earlier reminding him that PSG was always there if they ever needed anything. Jorge left Leonardo on read as he was convinced his son was staying in Barcelona.

This whole quote doesn’t fit into one tweet so here is a photo.

Jorge eventually responded to Leonardo’s messages saying, “we can talk if you want.” They called back immediately. The first thing Leonardo said was, “give me some joy.” Jorge said, “let’s discuss numbers, years, cover all the bases.”

Jorge then texted his son, “I’ll finish up with Leonardo and come by your house.”

Leo told Guillem, “When [my father] came, he explained everything to me and, obviously, I started to get upset and to prepare myself to tell Antonela and then the kids.”

Jorge dreaded this moment. Leo was devastated and went to the dining room to tell Antonela. The Messi household echoed with emotion, the tears flowing freely.

“Stay calm,” Jorge said. “There’s life beyond this.”

Leo told Guillem in his first interview in Paris:

“I told Antonela and obviously we cried. We had to think of a way to give the news to the kids. We told them back in December that we were staying. We knew it was going to be hard especially for Thiago”

Leonardo told Mauricio Pochettino the possibility of bringing Leo to the club was real. “What do you think?” he asked. “Of course!” he replied. Leonardo updated Pochettino daily on the situation. Messi requested to speak with Pochettino on the phone. “Do it, come here” he said.

Diego Simeone asked Luis Suarez to check if his old teammate was available. The answer was friendly but firm — no. Messi did not want to play for one of Barcelona’s La Liga rivals.

Neymar helped calm Messi down.

“When my dad started talking to Leonardo, Ney found out. I started talking to him, as well as Di Maria and Paredes about the possibility of going to Paris. They opened their arms to me and were in constant contact, wanting it to happen”

Messi told Neymar that he did not want the number 10 shirt, which the Brazilian had offered. With the Neymar to Barca rumors two years earlier, Messi told Neymar that they would play together again someday in an ideal world for two or three seasons.

Instead of being paid €138 million a year at Barcelona, including bonuses, Messi would have earned around €350 million in total, around half of his previous salary.

Messi’s team proposed a joint Laporta-Messi press conference. They wanted it a few days after the announcement on Thursday because Leo needed more time to adjust. The club refused this offer because Laporta wanted to get across his version of what happened as soon as possible

Messi thought for hours about what to say. He didn’t know how much he could offer without his emotions getting the better of him. He chose to speak from the heart; he wouldn’t hide how broken he felt after leaving the club of his life.

He walked through the curtain, vision blurred, ears bombarded by cameras being clicked. The weight of expectation on his shoulders sagged as he walked heavily to the podium. His body language was that of a defeated soldier.

He paused before looking at the crowd. No amount of composing himself would be enough. There was nowhere to hide.

“I don't know if the club did, but I did everything I could to stay. It was all arranged. I lowered my salary by 50%. And after that, nobody asked me anything else. All the rest is a lie. I was convinced that I was going to stay here. It was what my family and I wanted.”

“Today I have to say goodbye to it all. I've spent my whole life here. I arrived when I was 13, and I'm leaving with my wife and my three Catalan-Argentine children. I have no doubt that we are going to come back because this is our home. I promised my family.”

“I've experienced a lot of defeats. But the next day, I would go to training, and there would be another match that would give me another chance. Not now.”

Only two days after Leonardo’s call to Jorge, Messi’s lawyer travelled to Paris to review the contracts legality. Messi wanted to join ASAP. He didn’t care about the customary long list of demands or negotiation of a signing on fee.

The contract was signed just four days after Jorge Messi and Laporta’s embrace in Barcelona.

Thiago is a miniature Leo. On the day of his PSG unveiling, Leo told Guillem, “I think that if Thiago is happy inside, he shows he is content and that he is ready for change. I know that he is like me and that he is suffering inside without expressing it.”

@jordievole asked if Messi had ever been to a psychologist. He never has, but said he should. As a youngster, Leo took up Barcelona's offer to see the club's psychologist but couldn't open up.

Antonela told him several times to try again. It is something he needed.

“I'm a person who keeps everything to myself. I don't share it. I know I need to be more open, and I know it would do me good, but well, I don't do it.”

Finally END of thread. This was only one chapter in the biography. The whole book is several hundred pages and covers Messi’s entire career.

Massive credits to @GuillemBalague. Amazing work and congratulations on your new book. Go purchase it here ⬇️

amazon.com/Messi/dp/B088Z…